yourself to this modern world."

"I want a job," Mark said stubbornly. "Something to do besides--well,
some kind of mark to aim at, I guess. This point business is just
putting in time. I'm not creating anything. Even if I could fasten
zippers on feather-beds, I'd be doing something worth while, because
it'd be used. But this way of living is like digging a hole and then
filling it in again. Why, you don't even dare to get into a fight.
Somebody would collect a thousand points every time you hit him. The
standard price of a black eye is three thousand. You have to be pretty
careful about things like that. And there's always Conley."

"Well," Penelope said, "I'm going to make you a proposition. I'll hold
up your slip for sixty days, and in the meantime I'll teach you how to
get ahead of the game. I'll teach you the tricks of the trade, just as
old Point-a-Minute Charlie taught me. They say he averaged a point a
minute all his life."

"Where is he now?" asked Mark, interested.

The old lady pondered. "Come to think of it, I don't know. I remember
the last time I talked to him his credit balance was 98,000." She
frowned at the tremendous, low-lying dome that covered the horizon in
the distance and marked Central Audit Bureau. "I haven't seen him since
then."

"Hm," said Mark.

"Well, now," Penelope said briskly. "I'll make you a regular business
deal. I'll teach you, and for all you get, you give me twenty per cent.
See how many you can get. Try for ten thousand. That'll give you
something to shoot at."

"Maybe I can beat the Machine," Mark said eagerly.

Penelope swallowed. "They say you can't beat the Machine. But I guess it
won't hurt to try."

Mark did well. At first he just walked down the street stopping people
as fast as he could get to them. "You didn't recognize me, sir," he
would say indignantly. "I met you at Central concourse two years ago.
Remember? You stood right in front of me in line for three hours, and we
talked about our new suits. Remember? My feelings are injured because
you ignored me just now. Fifty points. Will you sign my slip, please?"

His credit reached the black the first week. He was netting five hundred
points a day, and it was fun, but Penelope said, "We'll go for bigger
stakes. This is kindergarten stuff. Now here's the way you start...."

* * * * *

So the next morning Mark managed to get himself knocked down four times,
and each time he came